


jinkies

by tootsonnewts



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M, a halloween bonfire, a spooky monster, and a lightly thirsty shiro, happy (late) halloween!, it’s a mystery out here on this beach, like zoinks dudes, scooby doo vibes, sheith college au, they go out to have a good time and honestly feel so attacked right now
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-01
Updated: 2018-11-01
Packaged: 2019-08-14 07:47:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16488557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tootsonnewts/pseuds/tootsonnewts
Summary: Bonfire night is special to the students of Garrison U. It’s the one night each year where it’s completely excusable to totally cut loose from all worries and rage under the light of the moon. They say Halloween night is the time when the veil between worlds is thinnest. What better way to celebrate than with a fire on the beach?Keith gets dragged to the annual unofficial Garrison U Halloween beach bonfire where he scores the man of his dreams, meets the monster of his nightmares, and cracks into one very interesting mystery.





	jinkies

**Author's Note:**

> here i am, fashionably late, but still very excited for this halloween fic! i've wanted to write a scooby gang adventure for a while, so either way, i'm glad i could do it!
> 
> bless gerard way for releasing [baby you're a haunted house](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaxHIYOzMUQ), which is what i listened to on repeat while i wrote this.

Bonfire night is special to the students of Garrison U. It’s the one night each year where it’s completely excusable to totally cut loose from all worries and rage under the light of the moon. They say Halloween night is the time when the veil between worlds is thinnest. What better way to celebrate than with a fire on the beach?

“Look, I’m just saying that I cannot, for the life of me, understand how _anyone_ managed to make another album after Hot Fuss.”

Keith sighs to himself. For him, Halloween is mostly a reason to keep an eye on his friends and make sure they don’t do anything stupid.

“Lance,” he warns lowly. On a level - a very, _very_ deep one - he agrees, but after years of listening to the same drunken argument over and over, he’s grown tired of beating a feral Pidge off of Lance’s head.

“Mr. Brightside is a stone cold banger and I won’t apologize!”

Pidge cracks her knuckles and looks at him darkly. Her face is ominously shadowed in the light of the roaring fire settled further down the beach. “I bet I can convince you to apologize.”

“Lance, please,” Hunk placates from beside Keith. “Please. It’s Halloween, dude. Can’t we just, like, talk about candy or spooky stories or something? Y’know, like the Marmoran Sea Monster? Everyone loves that one.”

“Except you. You hate spooky stories, man,” Keith points out.

“Yeah, but it beats seeing these two beat the crap out of each other, you know?” Keith laughs at that, and even though he doesn’t voice his agreement, he knows Hunk feels it. Suddenly, Hunk’s eyebrows pitch sharply upward. “Don’t look now, dude, but we’ve got incoming.”

Keith immediately looks in the direction of Hunk’s focus, ignoring the sharp hiss from the other man’s lips. His eyes widen as he sees a familiar silhouette cutting through the fire-warmed night, and suddenly he wishes he had listened. Gliding easily over the sand, eyes focused on Keith, is none other than Takashi Shirogane ( _"_ _Please, just call me Shiro”_ ), captain of the university hockey team, the Garrison Lions. He’s...gorgeous, really. He’s everything Keith dreams about at night when he closes his eyes and shoves his hand down his boxers.

Shirogane is six foot three inches of solidly stacked muscle wrapped in an open smile and sparkling eyes. Nobody talks much about his gleaming prosthetic or the scar slashed deep across his nose, but they all agree it does nothing to detract from the innate beauty he emanates. It’s like he breathes goodness. He’s outgoing and kind to everyone, even though he’s built like a brick shithouse. Great Dane syndrome, Pidge once called it. Lance just said he could get it any way he wanted. Keith agreed.

Still, Keith finds himself panicking slightly as he realizes he doesn’t know what to do trapped beneath a heady silver gaze. It’s odd, he thinks, the way Shiro’s sought him out more and more lately, just to say hey or ask how he’s doing in classes. They’re both on the same track, but they’ve never had a class together or anything, so it’s a mystery to Keith how Shiro ever found out about him at all. But, like all good foster kids, Keith understands to never look a gift horse in the mouth. He straightens his spine as Shiro stops a couple feet in front of him, his hands shoved deep in the pockets of his jeans and a small smile stretched across his mouth.

Pidge whistles lowly.

“Hey, Keith,” Shiro greets quietly. His smile makes his eyes sparkle, even with the light of the bonfire at his back. In the background, a crowd screams, raising their bottles to the sky as the music blaring from a rented sound system cranks louder. Their bodies jump and writhe as they dance, but it’s all a blur to Keith. All he can see is the dimple in Shiro’s left cheek.

“Hi,” Keith rasps.

“Oh, hello, Shiro! It’s so good to see you!” Lance breaks in theatrically. His hero worship of Shiro is well known on campus, and if they weren’t such good friends, Keith isn’t so sure that they wouldn’t be rivals for his attention. Shiro pulls a hand out of his pocket to wave it casually in Lance’s direction. His eyes don’t stray from Keith’s face.

“Hey, guys.”

“You know what?” Hunk pipes up. “I’m suddenly thirsty.”

Lance glances down at the cup in Hunk’s meaty hand. “Thirsty?”

Hunk tosses the cup, contents and all, over a broad shoulder. “Yep. Super thirsty. Like, the thirstiest I’ve ever been.”

“Nah, that’s Keith,” Pidge snorts.

“Anyway!” Hunk shouts, grabbing Lance and Pidge by the elbows and making to drag them away. “Let’s get some drinks! We’ll leave you two to it. It was good to see you, Shiro!”

And with that, the three of them disappear somewhere in the throng of partiers near the fire. Keith watches them go, his palms sweating nervously into his clenched fists. Shiro clears his throat to regain Keith’s attention which, all things considered, could be far worse. The problem, Keith realizes when he looks back to Shiro, is that he’s not entirely certain what to do now that Shiro’s got it. Does he comment about the weather? That would be stupid, they’re all out here in it together. Ask about his day? Who is he kidding, Shiro probably had a great day. Keith bets all his days are great.

“You look really good,” Shiro says, kicking Keith out of his downward spiral. Keith looks down at his clothes. They’re nothing unusual, just a pair of old jeans and a plaid shirt. Although, he did shove a knit beanie on tonight to account for the chill from the water. Maybe Shiro has a thing for yarn.

“Uh, thank you.” The statement lilts up at the end, turning more into a question than anything, and Keith wants to drown himself in the water. He wants to just walk out in the middle of it and keep walking. Make nice with some fish. Maybe a mermaid will come along and kidnap him. Or that nice sea monster will tear him apart before he even knows it’s happened. Instead, his mouth chooses to continue to dig his grave. “I picked it out myself.”

Shiro laughs, and it’s warm and rich and beautiful. Keith wants to roll around in the sound. He wants to weave it into fabric and sew a cape out of it, like some sort of weird Liberace. Shiro leans forward on his toes and waggles his eyebrows conspiratorially. “And I’m very glad you did.”

Keith feels his cheeks flame brighter than the fire down the way, and he’s so thankful that it’s dark enough for nobody to see.

“Anyway, I saw you get here earlier with your friends and meant to come say hi sooner, but”—Shiro shrugs his shoulders—“I didn’t want to intrude or anything.”

“Intrude?”

“You are...something else, Keith. It can be pretty intimidating.”

Keith dramatically looks him up and down. “Me?”

He laughs again, and _god,_ Keith needs to start keeping bottles around if that’s going to be happening with any consistency. He’d like to catch some of that sound to keep for himself. “Yeah, I know.” Shiro reaches up to scratch the back of his neck nervously. “But I wanted to make a good impression.”

A good impression? That can’t possibly mean what Keith thinks it could. He scrunches his brow at the earnest expression on Shiro’s face.

“Shiro, what—” screams ring out down the beach, cutting Keith off. These screams are totally different from the last round, though. They’re frantic, high-pitched, _terrified._ Keith snaps his attention toward the source of the sound, Shiro whipping around to shield Keith with his body.

The scene before them is total chaos. People are running in every direction, sand spraying all over the place beneath their feet. Bottles and cups go flying every which way as they’re tossed carelessly away in favor of unimpeded running. A rumbling, raspy sound grabs Keith’s attention.

Just down the beach, right at the heart of the bonfire, something is emerging from the water. It’s huge and hulking, ambling awkwardly as it shuffles to shore. Deep, guttural sounds pour from its mouth. Or at least, the vicinity of where Keith thinks its mouth would be. It steps fully onto land, arms raised high overhead as it postures dangerously by the fire. In the light of the flames, its body is illuminated, revealing a horrifying creature all cobbled together out of seaweed and webbed feet. It’s arms are unnaturally long, ending is webbed fingers capped off with long, sharp claws. There are gills of some sort on the sides of its neck, dripping with an oozing slime.

“Get...off...my...BEACH!” the creature bellows. It slams its arms down quickly in front of itself, spraying something out of its hands, and the fire goes dark. The monster roars loud and walks slowly forward, plunging into the heart of the frantic crowd as they scramble toward safety. It’s a blur of bodies and voices, none of them discernible to Keith’s eyes or ears.

None of them recognizable. None of them his friends.

Keith gasps and breaks into a sprint, throwing himself blindly toward the scene.

“Keith, wait!” Shiro calls from behind him. But he can’t. His friends are somewhere in there, possibly getting crushed, possibly getting hurt.

“Pidge! Lance! Hunk! Where are you?!” Keith calls out frantically, shoving through the mass of bodies. “Guys, please! Where are you?!”

“Keith!” It’s Pidge. She runs smack into his chest, throwing her arms around his waist and burying her face into his sternum. “Holy shit, I’m so glad you’re okay! C’mon, I know where Hunk and Lance are.”

Keith breathes a sigh of relief, reaching out to take Pidge’s outstretched hand and let her drag him away. A tug at his other wrist slows him down. When he turns around, he finds Shiro attached to the fingers wrapped around his arm. His face is set in determination. “I’m coming with you.”

“Yeah, yeah, fine,” Pidge answers with a wave of her tiny hand. “Just come on! We need to get off the beach.”

She tugs them away, rushing them back toward Hunk’s jeep in the parking lot. Keith is pleased to find him and Lance already waiting inside, and as they scramble to join them, Keith can’t help but wonder, “What the fuck was that?”

Hunk spins around in his seat and regards him seriously. “It was the sea monster.”

“I’m sorry, the _what_ now?” Lance asks incredulously.

“The Marmoran Sea Monster! You didn’t see it? It looked just like all the legends!”

“Hunk, those are legends for a reason,” Pidge sighs. “That wasn’t a monster.”

“We all saw that thing, Katie!” Hunk cries. The jeep goes deathly silent. Nobody ever uses Pidge’s real name. Nobody. Hunk’s hands shake as he raises them from the steering wheel to rush through his hair frantically. Keith reaches up to the front seat to set a calming hand on his shoulder. He shoots a warning look at Pidge. She’s ever observant, sharp minded, scientific in her approach to a nearly cold degree at times. Sometimes, she forgets to measure her tone and results are very often not great. She at least looks properly chastised as Keith does his best to calm Hunk down.

“Hey man, it’s okay. We’re all here and we’re fine.”

“Listen, Hunk,” Shiro says gently, leaning forward in his seat. “I saw it, too, but there’s no such thing as monsters. There has to be some sort of explanation.”

“That’s right,” Pidge agrees eagerly. She looks out toward the now empty beach. It’s eerie, dark and silent as the wind blows the dying embers of the bonfire away. Her face turns thoughtful, gaze going slightly unfocused as she thinks. “Don’t you think it’s odd that the monster knew it was bonfire night? And just happened to show up with exactly what he needed to put the fire out?”

“It’s a _sea_ monster, Pidge,” Lance scoffs. “Fire is their number one enemy! He’d probably put them all out if he could!”

“So are you saying he carries around fire suppressant everywhere he goes?” she volleys back sarcastically. “That’s stupid. There’s something fishy here.”

“I agree,” Keith chimes in before Lance can make a fish joke. He saw everything. It’s way too coincidental that a monster would choose the most dramatic time of the most busy event of the season to show up. Pidge looks over at him, eyebrows creeping up her forehead in the way they so often do when she’s about to get into some trouble. She probably already knows what Keith’s about to say before he even says it. “I think we should check it out.”

Her fist pumps silently in the air.

“Hold up, you’re telling me that you want to march your scrawny ass right back out there into _death?_ ” Lance screeches.

“I’m with Lance on this one,” Hunk mutters.

“I’m not scrawny,” Keith grumbles. “And it’s not death. I bet you whatever that was is already gone.”

“Fine, dude. Knock yourself out. But don’t expect me to come rescue you when that thing chokes you out with some seaweed!”

Keith snorts. “I don’t need you to rescue me. I can take care of myself. And like I said, there’s nothing to worry about.”

“I don’t know about all that,” Shiro interrupts. “That thing may not be a monster, but it’s something. There’s still some danger there.”

“Shiro, I appreciate what you’re saying, but I could kick your ass if I needed to. It’s fine.” Keith tries to keep the growl he feels building from touching his voice, but he’s pretty sure he fails, considering the way Hunk flinches.

“I know you could. Believe me,” Shiro answers warmly. There’s a dull fire in his eyes and _oh._ Oh, well that’s interesting. Keith’ll have to investigate that later. Shiro presses on. “But all I’m saying is there’s safety in numbers. I’m coming with you.”

And that’s a surprise. All things considered, they’ve only met tonight and there’s literally no reason for Shiro to be sticking around. It’s a kind offer, though, and he’s not wrong.

“Okay,” Keith agrees. “Okay. Let’s go check it out.”

“Well if Shiro’s going, then I’m going, too!” Lance cries. Hunk sighs, accepting his fate.

Keith looks around at them all one last time. He nods to Pidge, who nods back. Her face is set seriously, ready for whatever comes next. She’s the smallest of them all, but her heart and ferocity rival that of any predatory cat. Keith’s always felt a fond kinship with her for that. He reaches for the door handle, Pidge, Lance, and Hunk mirroring his movements. “On the count of three. One, two—”

“Three!” Pidge shouts and hops from the jeep.

“Three,” Keith echoes dryly.

They each step out and make their way slowly toward the beach.

“So if it wasn’t a monster, what do you think it was?” Lance asks, breath clouding in the chilly night.

“I’m not sure, really,” Pidge admits. “I have a couple ideas, but there’s no evidence for any of them just yet.”

“Maybe it was just a confused swimmer,” Hunk says nervously. “A really, really confused swimmer.”

“Hunk, my man,” Lance says, clapping a hand down on Hunk’s shoulder. “You’re adorable.”

“Shut up, Lance,” Hunk grunts. He shoves Lance’s hand off and wanders away down the beach. He doesn’t go far enough to lose everyone, but just far enough to avoid any more of Lance’s ribbing.

“You know, it’s probably a good idea to split up a little,” Shiro says. “We’ll cover more ground that way.”

“You’re right,” Pidge agrees. “You two head over to where it came out of the water, and me and Lance’ll go keep Hunk company down that way.”

Keith startles at the thought of being left alone with Shiro yet again, but Pidge makes a calculated sort of face at him and he realizes he would never win the argument. Instead, he sighs. “Fine. But if you see anything, I mean _anything,_ you call for us.”

“Ditto to you, tough guy.” She smirks and punches Keith’s bicep playfully before tugging Lance off in Hunk’s direction. Left alone with Shiro, Keith makes the executive decision to stride in the direction of the remains of the bonfire before he does anything embarrassing.

“So…” Shiro says casually as he trails Keith toward the shoreline. “You do this kind of stuff often?”

Keith stops in his tracks, whirling around on Shiro. “Seriously?” he demands. “Did you seriously just ‘do you come here often’ me?”

“I did not. I ‘do you do this often’-ed you. It’s totally different.” Shiro’s answer rolls out seriously, but his face is smug. Keith wants to drag that face back to his dorm something awful. Instead, he rolls his eyes and turns back around. “Keith, wait, I’m sorry. I just—”

“Guys! Guys, come check this out!” Lance shouts from down the beach. He’s got his phone out, waving the flashlight all over the place to get their attention.

“Let’s go see what they found,” Keith mutters as he follows Lance’s beacon.

“Keith, really,” Shiro pleads, tugging on his hand. “Look, this isn’t a good time to get into it, so I won’t, but I really am interested in getting to know you. I see you around all the time, and I graduate soon, so I thought this would be my chance, you know?”

“A monster terrifying the beach is your chance?”

“Well, when you put it that way…”

“Look,” Keith says. “I’m not shutting this down. Really. But like you said, this isn’t the time. We’ll talk about it later.”

“Right. Yes, of course.” Shiro’s voice is relieved and hopeful. It’s so endearing that Keith is tempted to throw his hands up and forget the monster. But he’s the curious sort by nature, and he can’t just let it go. The mission comes first, so he smiles and turns back down the beach.

“Oh, and Shiro?” he says quietly as they approach the others gathered around the mouth of a small alcove.

“Yeah, Keith?”

“Knock it off with the terrible fucking lines.”

“I’m. Um. I’m not doing it on purpose.” He sounds so embarrassed and _holy shit,_ Keith thinks. This guy can’t be real.

“It’s about damn time you guys got here,” Lance interrupts. “Check out what Hunk found.”

He shines his light at the ground, where Pidge is crouched low over some indentations pressed into the sand. They shine, iridescent and slick like—

“Is that oil?” Shiro asks.

“It sure looks like it,” Pidge answers, peering up at them. “But that’s not even the weird part. Come look closer.”

Keith and Shiro draw right up to the edge of the footprints and settle down next to Pidge. She’s got her own phone out, shining directly on the footprint closest to her so they can have a better look. Keith studies the prints closely. They look pretty small in comparison to the size of the monster, but even moreso, they’re ridged and uneven, full of indentations and neat, orderly patterns. Familiar patterns. Familiar because Keith wears something like that every day.

“Boots,” he realizes out loud.

“Exactly,” Pidge says. “What kind of sea monster needs boots to swim? Or even exist?”

“None. None kind of monster,” Lance says.

“Eloquent,” Pidge scoffs.

Shiro stands from his crouch, looking at their surroundings. “You notice that they’re heading toward the water?”

“Hunk did, actually,” Pidge offers, smiling up at the man himself. “We were checking them out and he was like—”

“Why would a sea monster be walking into the water with boots on?” Hunk speaks for himself.

“We all agreed, so I devised a plan!” Lance announces.

“And what would that be?” Keith asks, partially out of curiosity and partially out of the desire to make fun of whatever terrible plan it will inevitably be.

“Well, if the monster walked in from over here, it would stand to reason that he would come back this way, right? So we wait here until he comes back and BAM!” he shouts, smacking his hands together. “We all tackle him!”

It’s actually not a bad plan.

“But what do we do once we grab him?” Keith asks.

“I hadn’t figured that part out yet,” Lance admits.

“We call the cops,” Pidge says at the same time. “If it’s really just some rando like we think, the cops can arrest whoever they really are. Bingo bango, problem solved.”

“Bingo bango,” Keith repeats.

“Bingo bango,” Lance agrees.

“Well, I guess there’s nothing left to do but wait, right?” Shiro says, plopping down in the sand with his hands behind him. They all follow suit, making sure to hide themselves from obvious sight in order to make sure they’re all in prime tackling position. Everyone keeps quiet, waiting for the return of the monster, poised for the strike. Patiently, they wait.

And wait.

And wait.

An excruciating hour passes and still no monster arrives.

“Alright,” Pidge sighs, standing from the rock she had perched on. “This is getting us nowhere. Maybe we should split up again and go looking for clues, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Keith agrees, hauling himself up from the ground. He wipes the sand from the seat of his pants, ignoring the chatter from the others as they decide where to go look.

“—right, Shiro?” Lance finishes a thought. There’s no answer to his question, and when Keith looks up curiously, he finds Shiro’s gaze trained in his direction, eyes unfocused.

“Shiro,” Keith says calmly.

“Yeah, Keith?” he answers absently.

“I’m up here.”

Shiro’s eyes snap up and he clears his throat. It doesn’t keep his voice from coming out strangled. “Yep! Th-there you are!”

“Here I am.” Keith can’t quite keep the amusement from flooding his tone. He’s beginning to think he’ll never be able to get himself under control around this guy. At least it’s mutual.

“Holy shit, you guys are gross,” Lance decides out loud, looking to Pidge and Hunk. “C’mon guys, we’ll leave them to it.” He rounds on Keith. “We’re gonna go further down the beach and see if we can find anything else.”

“Alright, then. If the footprints came from this direction, they had to have started somewhere. We’ll go see if we can find where,” Keith decides.

“Good idea,” Pidge chirps. “We’ll call you if we find anything.”

“See ya.” Keith waves them off and looks back to Shiro. “Alright, you ready to do this?”

Shiro nods, turning his attention back to the footprints. “Let’s just keep following them, see if we can’t get to the source.”

Keith nods in agreement, and joins him as he traces the creature’s steps back. Eventually, they end up away from the beach at the foot of a wooden staircase. The oily footprints continue up the steps onto a rickety boardwalk. The slats are old and beaten, obviously weathered and uncared for. Keith can only imagine the number of storms they’ve seen. He pulls out his phone, clicking on the flashlight as he carefully steps around broken wood to follow the trail.

“You know, something I don’t understand,” Shiro says quietly, “is why someone would go to so much trouble just to scare a bunch of college kids.”

“Who knows,” Keith answers. “Maybe they’re just bored.”

The boardwalk transitions to a paved pathway, footprints leading directly to the door of an old mechanical shed. Keith looks around, studying their surroundings. This area is familiar, although he can’t quite place why. Keith’s sure he’s seen it before for some reason, but his mind can’t seem to slot the information together.

“Galra Hill,” Shiro announces, looking up. “We’re at the base of Galra Hill.”

Keith follows his gaze, and sure enough, he sees it. There, perched on the top of the hill they’ve found themselves at the base of, stands Galra Manor. Abandoned for years now, silent as the grave its mistress lays in.

“Okay, so the monster came from the grounds shed of Galra Manor? But why?”

“It’s a mystery.”

“Well, let’s hope we can—” Keith’s phone rings, interrupting yet another thought. It seems to be a night dedicated to that. He checks the screen and answers.

“Pidge, we found something.”

“Yeah, us too. The fucking _monster!_ ”

“Wait, what?”

“You know how you guys left to get all cozy and look for footprints or whatever?”

Keith sighs. “Yes.”

“Yeah, well, we did that too. Except without the cozy part and instead with THE MONSTER PART.”

“Fuck, are you guys okay?”

“ _No!_ ” Lance shouts in the background.

“Fair enough. Well, you guys wanna meet up? We’re at the bottom of Galra Hill.”

“What, why?”

“Details. Come meet us.”

“Yeah, yeah.” The line goes dead. Keith sighs again just to be dramatic and turns to Shiro.

“They saw the monster again. They’re on their way.”

“Oh man, are they alright?”

“Yeah. Shaken up, I think, but not hurt.”

“Oh, I’m hurt!” Lance shouts, rushing up the pathway. “Mentally scarred! Changed for life! Ruined!”

“Knock it off,” Keith grits out. “You wanna bring it back around?”

“Isn’t that the idea?”

“Not until we know what the hell is going on, it isn’t.”

“Pidge,” Shiro interrupts. “What happened out there?”

“Well, we went back out on the beach to see if we could scope out any more footprints or signs. We didn’t see anything at first, but then we heard something shuffling around back in that alcove, so we went to check it out. It was the monster, but it almost seemed like we surprised it? It wasn’t ready for us, I mean. It kind of had to snap into scary mode. When it did, though, it chased us up and down the beach.”

“Oh, that’s awful! Are you alright?”

“Contrary to certain shouts, yes. We’re fine. But it just confirmed what I’ve been thinking.”

“And what is that?”

“It’s definitely human. No monster gets surprised that way. Or wears boots.”

“Or comes out of this maintenance shed,” Keith adds, gesturing to the building in question.

“What do you mean?” Hunk asks.

“We followed the footprints. They trailed all the way up to this shed and stopped at the door.”

Pidge tries the handle, to find it locked. “Alright then, now what?”

“If a monster wandered out of your shed, wouldn’t you wanna know?” Keith asks.

“Well, yeah, sure,” she agrees, “but the house is abandoned. It has been for years. You know that.”

“But _they_ don’t know we know that,” he points out. “For all anyone else knows, we’re just some random kids from out of town that want to check out that spooky old house up on Galra Hill. Maybe we heard the stories and thought we’d try to talk to a ghost. Maybe we want to know if vampires are real and nest there. It’s a mystery.”

Shiro snorts at Keith’s echo of his earlier words.

“Nothing for it, I guess,” Pidge decides, squaring her shoulders and turning to the path. “Let’s do this thing.”

“Hey guys?” Hunk asks. “About doing the thing? Do we have to? Do the thing?”

“Hey, don’t worry, buddy! Ol’ Lance’ll protect you!”

“You couldn’t protect yourself out of a wet paper bag,” Keith deadpans.

“Well then, Shiro will protect me protecting Hunk!”

“Whatever.”

They trudge toward the house together, huddled close and alert for any potential attacks, but none come. It’s quiet up on the hill, oddly so. No breeze to rustle the trees, no crickets to chirp in the night. Just silence. Cold and still. The porch creaks as Pidge takes the first, brave step onto the old wooden boards. Just like the boardwalk, the planks scream of disuse and abandon. The entire house does, really. Shutters are broken and drooping from the sides of windows, paint is peeling and flaking, threatening to fall to the ground with the slightest breeze. The curtains behind each set of windows sit in different stages of being closed, some haphazardly thrown together, some left wide open. Keith walks up to one of them, peering in for a look. The house is darkened inside, much too dark to get a good look.

“You see anything?” Shiro asks, quietly approaching.

“Nah, no luck.”

“Well, I guess we’ll have to just go in.”

“What?” Hunk’s voice pitches high in panic. “We can’t just go in this ghost house with no permission! That’s how you get haunted, Shiro! Haunted! Do you want to be haunted? Because I most definitely don’t!”

“Hunk,” Keith soothes, stepping up to him. “Relax. You don’t have to go in if you don’t want to.”

“Oh, yes I do! Because all of you idiots are going to go in, which means _I’m_ going to have to go in!”

“Fair point,” Keith admits. “Just stick close and you’ll be okay.”

“Oh my god,” Hunk whines. “You guys are going to get me killed. Friends don’t get friends killed! They keep them alive! Have you ever thought about that Keith? How I keep you alive?”

“I mean—”

“I cook for you, Keith! Food! And, excuse me for tooting my own horn here, but it’s delicious food!”

“You’re right, it is. But don’t worry, okay? You’ll be fine.”

“You don’t know that!”

Keith pauses. Finally, he admits, “You’re right.”

“See?!”

“But if we let this thing go, think about what will happen, Hunk. Whoever this is will keep doing this. They’ll keep terrorizing people and we’ll always think about how we had a chance to do something and we _didn’t._ ”

Keith tries not to use guilt as a tactic. He hates it, it’s an awful way to get someone to agree, but he just doesn’t know how else to say what he’s thinking. Shiro steps up to Keith’s side and sets a warm hand down on his shoulder.

“You guys ready?”

Keith looks to Hunk patiently, waiting for his decision. Whatever he chooses, Keith will support, of course he will. He still hopes he’ll choose to come along. Finally, Hunk breathes out slowly.

“Yeah, we’re ready.”

Keith shoots him an appreciative smile and turns to approach the front door. To cover his bases, he reaches out for the old door knocker, throwing it against the door in a few clunky beats. To absolutely none of their surprise, no answer comes. He tries the doorknob and again, no surprise at all, it turns. The door swings wide on creaking hinges, a rush of stale air pouring out to greet them. Keith takes a deep breath and steps inside.

The foyer of the manor is grand in its build, wide and opulent, meant to display a sharp and powerful welcome. There was money here — a lot of it — and the owners wanted everyone to know it. Dust motes float thick in the air, glinting beneath the shafts of moonlight that manage to pierce through whatever open curtains allow. It’s an eerie feeling house. There’s nothing to make it feel like a home. Rather, it feels more like a shell of a place, devoid of whatever comfort and warmth there may have been at one time. There are no personal pictures on the walls, just old paintings. They’re the sort of paintings you might find in a museum or old library — landscapes and flowers in vases. Opulent, but detached.

The others press inside behind Keith, closing the door as quietly as they can.

“Well? Now what?” Lance asks quietly, although it sounds like a shout in the silence of the house.

“Now we do what we did at the beach,” Pidge answers. “We split up and look for clues.”

“Of course. Split up. Because that’s worked out super well for us so far,” Hunk despairs.

“Relax, Hunk. You’ll be fine,” she reassures him. “We’ll take the same groups we had earlier and sweep the house. We can meet back here in”—she checks the time on her phone—”thirty minutes?”

Keith nods, checking his own phone. No service. Of course not.

“Sounds good to me,” Shiro agrees. “Why don’t you guys take the downstairs and we’ll take upstairs?”

“Cool with me,” Pidge nods. “And hey, we’ll be closer to the door if we have to run away.”

“Right. Right, good,” Hunk says.

“Good luck, guys,” Keith wishes and turns toward the elaborate, winding staircase. Shiro trails behind him, cellphone flashlight out to illuminate their path.

“What do you think we’ll find?” he whispers.

“Honestly? I have no idea. I’m pretty confused about this whole thing. I agree with Pidge that it’s gotta be a person, but why they’d be doing this still doesn’t make sense.”

The stairs creak under their feet as they ascend the final few steps and end up on the upstairs landing. The hallway is long here, multiple rooms flanking the sides. At the very end, a large red door sits, imposing in its grandeur.

“Well, that’s not foreboding or anything,” Keith mutters.

Shiro laughs lowly. “Let’s just go from room to room, I guess, and see what we can find.”

“Sounds good,” Keith answers, reaching for the knob of the first room to their left. It turns easily beneath his hand, and the door swings open silently. Which seems odd. Nothing here is kept up very well, so it would stand to reason that this door would be just as creaky as the rest. As they step inside, Keith looks around at the room’s decor. It’s...softer. Warmer.

The walls are covered in a pretty floral wallpaper, bookshelves crammed with books of all sorts lining the back wall. The curtains are pretty and gauzy, swept back from a wide window set in the very center of another wall off to the side. Everything here is clean and well kept. It looks as if someone still visits daily.

“Shiro, are you seeing thi—”

“GET OUT!” a voice bellows from the doorway. Keith and Shiro spin on their heels to find the monster behind them, pushing through the doorway.

“Shit!” Keith shouts, ducking to the side to avoid a great swipe of the monster’s clawed hand. “Shiro, run!”

They dart around the monster and out of the bedroom door, zipping back down the stairs as quickly as they can.

“Guys! Guys, where are you?! We gotta go!”

“Keith?” Pidge runs into the lobby, concern all over her face. “Keith, what’s wrong? What’s with all the yelling?”

“Pidge, we found him, he’s—”

“GETTTT OUUUTTT!” The monster stomps down the stairs in their direction, lumbering toward the three of them.

“Sorry about this!” Shiro shouts, scooping Pidge up and throwing her over his shoulder as he takes off, running further into the heart of the house. “Keith, c’mon!”

He doesn’t need to be told twice, scuttling behind the two of them as they push further. “Hunk! Lance! Where are you guys?”

“In here!” Hunk’s voice answers. A door swings open suddenly, Lance’s hands reaching out to tug them inside. As soon as they stumble in, he slams the door, locking it and propping it closed with a chair. They find themselves in a study of some sort, Keith realizes. There’s a lamp illuminated on the large mahogany desk in the center, which makes no sense, because in an abandoned house, who needs electricity? It’s just another piece of a puzzle that doesn’t quite slot together.

Pidge taps Shiro’s shoulder, reminding him to set her down.

“Oh! Sorry, Pidge. I forgot you were up there.”

She snorts as her feet hit the ground once more. “Riddle me this: why would a sea monster be in a house? Especially up on the top of a hill?”

“Because it’s not a monster,” Lance answers with clarity.

“Precisely.”

“But the question remains, _why_ are they doing this?” Shiro points out.

“Hey guys?” Hunk’s voice grabs their attention. He’s shuffling through some sort of paperwork on the desk, pages and pages of yellowed newspaper clippings and official looking documents. “You should look at this.”

They join him at the desk, gazing down at the spread before them. On top rests a series of newspaper articles, detailing the death of Honerva Galra, the former mistress of Galra Manor and wife of Zarkon, billionaire investor and the Manor’s master. She was a brilliant doctor, known for her work in disease research and treatment. Unfortunately, she fell victim to one of the rare viruses she was studying due to an accident in a field lab. She was transported home where she passed surrounded by her family. According to all accounts, her husband and son were never the same. Lotor, their only child, left home shortly after her burial and was never heard from again. Zarkon left soon behind, and the house stood empty ever since.

The tone of each article changes as time passes, becoming less understanding and more speculative. The focus shifts away from the broken family and onto the house itself. Reports of odd sounds and floating lights pepper three-paragraph puff pieces about the town’s hottest gossip. HAUNTED! one article declares. GALRA MANOR HOME TO UNHAPPY SPIRIT?

Keith spots a book on the edge of the desk, the corner of a bookmark peeking out from between the pages. He snatches it up and takes a look at the cover. It’s a beat up, leatherbound thing, a pictograph of some bats and angry eyes on the front just beneath a hand lettered title. _Marmora Local Legends and Spooky Spirits._

He opens the book, thumbing to the page marked with a stiff slip of cardboard. And gasps.

It’s the Marmoran Sea Monster. The page is all marked up and highlighted, notes in a language Keith can’t read scrawled in the margins. There’s a little diagram sketched out in an open space of the page, something that looks strangely like a sewing pattern.

“Interesting.”

“What is, Keith?” Pidge asks, drawing up next to him to peer over his arm at the book.

“Take a look at this.”

She’s silent for a moment as she processes the page. “Now, why on earth would a monster need to look itself up?”

“I think you know why,” he answers gravely.

“I think I do.”

“That’s so good. I’m so glad you two know what’s up,” Lance interjects, voice dripping with sarcasm. “Care to share with the rest of the class?”

Keith and Pidge look at each other for a moment, sharing silent words. He cocks a brow and dips his shoulder, gesturing for her to share her thoughts.

“There’s a reason all of these things are piled here together. It’s all linked.”

“Okay, but how?”

“I think that—” she’s cut off as the door rattles on its hinges, something barreling heavy into the wood. The barrage rattles Keith’s teeth as each harsh bang causes them all to jump in surprise.

“GET OUT!”

“Guys, we’ve gotta get outta here!” Hunk whimpers. He’s right, Keith realizes. Even though there’s a cloud of suspicion forming in Keith’s mind about what precisely is going on here, at this point they’ve hit a wall. There’s not much they can do without a plan, and there’s no way they can cook one up with the monster chasing them around the house. He glances quickly around the room until his eyes settle on the window.

“You guys aren’t gonna like this, but it’s all we have,” he says, striding over and throwing it open. “We’ve got to go out this way.”

As expected, the group breaks into grumbles and protests, the loudest of them being Hunk. “Keith, c’mon, dude. There’s no way I’ll ever fit through that thing!”

“Hunk, do you remember that stupid Easter house party you guys dragged me to in freshman year?”

“...No.”

Keith smirks and shoves him toward the waiting window. “Well, I do. You’ll fit.”

It takes some convincing, and a lot of arguing, but they all manage their way through the window and down the hill, returning to the beach.

“Alright, so what do we have?” Shiro asks, looking to Pidge.

“A local legend shows up on the beach during the one time of year a huge group is collected there, throws a dramatic fit, chases everyone away. The monster came from the Galra Manor mechanical shed, wearing boots, proving it’s human.”

“Right, and inside, the house is empty, but a weird den upstairs is totally clean and kept up unlike the rest of the house.”

“Hello? The monster?” Lance interrupts. “Y’know, the one that chased us all over hell’s half acre?!”

“Yes, that,” Pidge sighs. “For some reason, it’s in the house, along with a bunch of articles about what happened _and_ a book with the pages dedicated to it highlighted and annotated.”

“Are you guys thinking what I’m thinking?” Keith asks.

Pidge looks grimly determined when she shifts her gaze to him. “We capture it.”

“Exactly.”

“And how are we gonna do that?” Hunk asks.

“I have a plan.” Pidges glasses glint in the moonlight as she turns to them all and explains her thoughts.

It’s a fantastic plan, Keith thinks, as they climb the hill a final time with all of their supplies. He knows his part of the plan, and he’s more than ready to fulfill it. As they each make to separate out into the mansion, Keith pauses in his steps, reaching out to grab Shiro by the hand. He turns around, eyebrow quirked in question at Keith’s sudden stop.

“When this is finished,” Keith starts, suddenly flooded with nerves, “you wanna go grab some coffee or something?”

Shiro’s answering smile is dazzling. It lights up the night where they stand, ready to plunge once more into the manor. He drops the ropes in his hands and presses forward, tugging Keith into a tight hug. It’s warm and gentle. He smells good, better than good, warm and musk-kissed. “I would love to.”

Keith nods and steps back from the circle of his arms. “Okay. Great,” and he can’t keep the smile from splitting his face. “Let’s go catch a monster.”

It takes them thirty minutes to set up their trap, the monster thankfully not showing up in that time. When they’ve finished, they all reconvene in the lobby and prepare to put their plan into motion.

“Is everybody ready?” Shiro asks, a tone of confidence and command coloring his voice. It steels them all, Keith included. They each visibly straighten, preparing themselves for whatever happens next. “Okay, then. Here we go.” He nods to Pidge, and she takes a deep breath.

“Oh man! I can’t believe we decided to come back to this spooky old house! Why would we do such an extravagantly stupid thing? We must be some real dummies!” Her shout rings through the air of the lobby. It settles, silence falling around the gang once more until, finally, from the hallway leading to the study, they hear it.

“GET OUT!”

The monster rushes into the lobby of the house, and they leap into action. Keith and Shiro rush upstairs toward the oddly neat parlor, the monster hot on their heels. The others chase after them, all of them running awkwardly up the stairs in a cacophony of monster gurgles and human shouts.

Keith zips into the parlor, headed straight to the back, hand reaching out for a rope tied up to the bookcase. Shiro follows behind, settling his hands just above Keith’s on the rope, ready to pull. The monster rushes in after them, Pidge, Lance, and Hunk chasing right behind. Lance’s eyes focus up on the ceiling, waiting until just the perfect moment. It happens quickly, his fists raising in the air.

“Now! Now, do it now!”

Keith and Shiro pull on the rope, and when they do, a sturdy fishing net falls from where they had hastily tied it up. It hits its mark, draping over the top of the monster and tripping it up. The monster stumbles, arms waving out to its sides wildly as it crashes to the floor, all tangled up in the netting. Quickly, Keith tosses the other end of the rope to Hunk, who helps them wrap it up around the monster and tighten it.

“Alright!” Lance yells, raising his hand in the air for a high five. “We did it!”

Hunk collapses, facedown on the ground. Pidge whips her phone out to call the police station. Keith and Shiro look at each other for a beat before collapsing together in a rushed kiss.

“Gross,” Hunk mutters from the ground. Keith kicks him in the ass.

“You guys gonna just leave me hanging?” Lance asks, hand still poised in the air. “Fine then.” He slaps his own hand.

The monster writhes and moans in the net at their feet. Keith swears it’s saying something, but it’s so muffled by the seaweed and rope that he can’t quite make it out. They wait quietly until the police arrive and Pidge drags them upstairs, explaining the whole evening’s ordeal.

“Well, I’ll say this,” the police chief says, looking down at the bundle of monster. “You certainly chose an unorthodox method of dealing with this.” His mouth twitches like he’s trying to hold back a smile. “Let’s see what we’re dealing with, shall we?”

A couple deputies reach down, untying the net from the monster. As they do, Pidge continues to chatter in the background.

“All due respect, Officer, we already know what we’re dealing with.”

“Oh you do, do you?”

“Yep.” She bends forward, settling herself at eye level with the now handcuffed monster. “The Marmoran Sea Monster is none other than”—she plucks the mask from the culprit’s head, revealing his face and pulling gasps from the whole room—“Zarkon Galra himself!”

“Wait, you _knew?!_ ” Lance screeches.

“I had a feeling,” she responds lightly. “But when Keith found that book in the study, we knew for sure.”

“We?” Hunk asks.

“We,” Keith confirms. “The only thing I still don’t get is _why._ ”

“Oh, I’ll tell you why,” Zarkon speaks up from the floor. His voice is deep, full of grating bass and power. “Do you know what’s like to lose a spouse? The only light in your life? And then to be abandoned by your only child in your time of grief? Left, to be surrounded by nothing but memories of a time when your life was happier? I know this feeling. Honerva died, Lotor left, and I couldn’t stay here. I couldn’t keep this house, but I knew I could never sell it for what it’s worth once the rumors of hauntings began. So I decided to leave it, let it sit just long enough for people to forget. Then I could sell it, cut my losses, and move away. But it didn’t work. They all just kept _talking._ One day, as I was looking through the books in my late wife’s parlor, I found a volume about local legends. I read the story of the sea monster and knew what I had to do. See, I couldn’t make all my money back from just the house, but if I managed to sell the adjoining plot of beach, well. I could make millions! So, I dressed up as the monster to scare people away and drive the cost of the beach plot down. Then I could swoop in and buy it for cheap! After that, the monster would miraculously return to the sea, I’d fix the house up all neat and tidy, and sell it off for a nice profit.”

Keith has to admit that’s a relatively efficient plan, if not rather insulting to the memory of his late wife. Would she have approved of this behavior? This greed?

“That was quite a lot of effort to go through, Mister Galra,” the police chief says, hauling him up from the ground and leading him toward the stairs. “Maybe you can think on the specifics while you wait for your court date.”

As the chief pushes Zarkon down the steps and out the front door, the man twists in his grasp craning his neck to shout back into the house.

“And I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for you meddling kids!”

The walk back to Hunk’s jeep is silent, if not thoughtful. Once they draw up to the vehicle, Shiro reaches out to Keith, tangling their fingers together.

“Hey,” he says with a soft smile. “How about a Halloween coffee?”

Keith’s stomach flutters as he returns Shiro’s expression. “Yeah, that’d be nice.”

“FUCKING GROSS,” Lance shouts from the back of the jeep.

**Author's Note:**

> come on down to [tumblr town](http://tootsonnewts.tumblr.com/) or [twitter](https://twitter.com/_tootsonnewts), and hang out with me!
> 
> have a lovely weekend!


End file.
